prizewinning film director and u.p. cal alumnus auraeus solito in u.p. diliman

HOMECOMING: a conversation with auraeus solito on PISAY, U.P., MAXIMO OLIVEROS and beyond

tuesday, 26 february 2008

2:30-4 pm

UP CAL AVR (Room 2104)
2nd floor, bulwagang rizal
college of arts and letters
university of the philippines
diliman, quezon city.

open to the public

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Auraeus Solito (Palaw'an) studied theater arts at the College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines, where he directed for the stage and wrote screenplays. Later, he studied filmmaking at the Mowelfund Film Institute. His thesis dramatic production at the University of the Phillipines was about the stories of the Palawanon, and after graduating Solito spent seven years living on the island of South Palawan, Phillipines. Solito's documentary, Basil Banar/The Scared Ritual of Truth about the Palawan Islands won Best Feature Documentary at the Montreal First Peoples' Festival. His first narrative feature, The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, won the Golden Zenith Award at the Montreal World Film Festival and the Kinderfest International Jury's Grand Prize at the Berlinale in Germany. The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros was the opening film of the 2006 New Directors/New Films series presented by The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Solito filmed The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros in Sampaloc, the neighborhood where he grew up in Manila, Phillipines As an Asian Public Intellectual Fellow of the Nippon Foundation, Japan, Solito made a documentary on island rituals in Okinawa and Borneo.

"Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros" won 15 international awards including 3 awards at the Berlinale (The Teddy award, International Jury Prize at the Kinderfest and Special Mention from the Children's Jury of the Kinderfest). It is also the first Philippine film nominated for Best Foreign film at the Independents' Spirit Awards in the US. It has been shown in more than 50 film festivals around the world.

“Tuli” , his second feature film, won Best Picture and Best Director at the Digital Competition at the 2005 CineManila Film Festival and recently won the NETPAC Jury Prize at the the Berlinale, International Forum for New Cinema; 2nd Prize for Best Feature Film at the Montreal Film Festival. It is at present making the rounds in film festivals in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

He is the first Filipino to make it to the premiere independent film festival in the world, the SUNDANCE Film Festival in Park City, Utah, USA; two years in a row for both “The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros” and “Tuli”.

“PISAY (Philippine Science)” is his 3rd dramatic feature film. It is a story about eight students who makes it to the premier science high school during the politically volatile 80’s in the Philippines. These students find the world outside, with the chaos of the end of the Marcos dictatorship erupting into the People Power revolution in 1986, being replicated within the school as they struggle to graduate, contend with teachers, classmates, family, school officials, and a new classification system to segregate students into two groups based on their academic ranking. It chronicles their journey of self discovery as they go through the joys and pains of adolescence. PISAY is the winner of the Best Director, Best Production Design and the Audience Choice Awards at the 2007 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. More recently, the film bagged Grand Jury and Audience Choice Prizes at the 14th Vesoul International Film Festival for Asian Films in France.

ang pagdadalaga ni maximo oliveros
(the blossoming of maximo oliveros)

pisay
(philippine science)

CALL FOR PAPERS: 8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PHILIPPINE STUDIES 23-26 July 2008, Manila, Philippines

Theme: Philippine Studies for the 21st Century, New Meanings, Critiques and Trajectories

The 8^th International Conference on Philippine Studies (ICOPHIL) aims to provide a forum for scholars engaged in research on the general field of Philippine Studies. Reflecting on developments and discourses that shed light on Philippine realities in a global era, this International Conference hopes to reconceptualize Philippine Studies and chart new directions for the 21^st century.

The Program Committee invites conference presentations from Philippine Studies Association members, affiliated societies, and local and foreign scholars in all disciplines. The Committee encourages creativity and innovation with regard to both intellectual content and presentation. In addition to panels, formats including poster sessions, thematic workshops, roundtable discussions, and other departures from traditional formal paper presentations are encouraged. The Committee particularly welcomes interdisciplinary or border-crossing proposals that complement or depart from conventional historical, chronological, geographic and disciplinary boundaries. Younger scholars are especially encouraged to participate.

Proposals should be submitted to the 8^th ICOPHIL Secretariat at the Philippine Social Science Council via email (icophil@pssc.org.ph) orfax (632-924-4178 or 632-922-9621) by 15 November 2007. Proposals must include a 150-word abstract of the panel/paper as well as the name, affiliation and contact details of the proponent. Complete panels by potential chairs will be given priority but individual proposals will also be considered.

Since 1989, the ICOPHIL conference series has been held every 4 years at an international hosting institution. The 2008 ICOPHIL is hosted by the Philippine Studies Association in conjunction with the International Philippine Studies Conferences Board based at the University of Hawaii’s Center for Philippine Studies. The 2012 ICOPHIL will be hosted by Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA.

KEY DATES

15 November 2007	Submission of panel/paper/ presentation ABSTRACT
15 January 2008	Notification of acceptance
30 April 2008	Submission of full papers
23-26 July 2008	Philippine Social Science Center, Quezon City

REGISTRATION FEES

	Onsite	Early bird rate (until 30 June 2008)*
Local Participants	PhP5,000	PhP4,000

*No Refund After JULY 1, 2008

The Philippine Studies Association (PSA), convener of the 8^th ICOPHIL in Manila, was established in 1984 to promote multidisciplinary research and broader understanding of Philippine society and culture. Since 1984, it has sponsored national and regional Philippine studies conferences. The PSA has also coordinated with the ICOPHIL Board, formally established in 1996, in the planning of the International Philippine Studies Conferences. The 7^th ICOPHIL was hosted by Leiden University in The Netherlands.

SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR PROPOSALS/PANELS

· Theories and Dimensions of Analysis in
Philippine Studies

· Changing Philippine Institutions, Ideologies, Practices, and Technologies

· Problematizing the Nation and the State

· Globalization Issues

· Histories, Cultures, Identities

· Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Studies

· The Philippine Diaspora

· Gender Studies

· Human and Ecosystem well-being

· Education for the 21^st Century

· Population Studies

· Philippine Media

· Similar topics may be proposed.

INQUIRIES

Bernardita R. Churchill - nitachurchill@hotmail.com

Belinda A. Aquino - lyndy@hawaii.edu

ICOPHIL Secretariat - icophil@pssc.org.ph

Tel. no. (+63)(2) 929-2671 / 456-1930

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‘PISAY’: SUPERIOR LOCAL FILM by Mario E. Bautista


AN entry in the Cinemalaya filmfest that is destined to be a classic is “Pisay,” a contraction of Philippine Science High School. Extremely well written by Henry Grageda and brilliantly directed by Aureus Solito (who easily tops his earlier award-winning films, “Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros” and “Tuli”), the film follows the stories of several students who qualify as scholars in Pisay, from the time they enter the school in 1982 until they graduate in 1986. These are volatile times in contemporary history, so the film is not just their story but also that of the nation, chronicling the assassination of Ninoy Aquino and the EDSA People Power revolution that ousted Marcos.

The film is divided into four distinct episodes, with each episode concentrating on different students. “Freshman” is about young love. Gammy Lopez (twin brother of Nathan Lopez who played Maximo Oliveros), an intelligent teener whose mom is a market vendor, falls in love with the balikbayan mestiza, Annicka Dolonious. In the process, his grades suffer. Their concerned teacher (Eugene Domingo, who’s so great she should win a best supporting actress award for her performance here) knows he can do better and convinces him to forget about his infatuation with Annicka and to focus more on his studies.

“Sophomore” is about a fat boy from Cebu, Carl John Barrameda, who graduated valedictorian in their hometown and is now bullied by bigger boys in their dorm. He gets so terribly homesick and this affects his performance in class so badly that he lost his scholarship and was subsequently ousted from the school. “Junior” is about a girl, Shayne Fajutana, whose parents are both political activists. To complete an experiment in class, she is paired with a budding cadet, Jonathan Neri. Together, they also get engrossed in the story of Macliing Dulag and the Chico River project. They do get attracted to each other, but Shayne’s parents are being persecuted by the government so they quietly leave for abroad, with Shayne leaving the school without even telling anyone where they are going.

“Senior” is about an effeminate boy, Euripedes (EJ Jallorina), who discovers while he’s in Pisay that he’s more inclined to the arts. Pisay scholars are required to major in science courses when they go to college.

If they enrol in other courses, then they would have to pay back the government for the years they spent as a Pisay scholar. This episode opens with a play being performed on stage, with Euri playing the role of Sisa. Euri has a hard time filling up his application form for entrance exams in college because he cannot decide on whether he should take up a science course or theatre arts.

In the end, the tragedy that befalls his classmate and best friend, Elijah Castillo (the child actor who played the title role in “Pepot Artista”) helps him make a final decision.

The graduation sequence where the students are shown going up onstage to get their diplomas and citations moved us to tears. It brought back bittersweet memories of our own high school years. Uniformly well acted by a fine ensemble cast, Solito truly excels in this one as he has already mastered polishing the technical requirements of making a digital film, compared to “Maximo” and “Tuli” that are so crudely made.

The audience applauded in unison right after the screening of this film at the Cultural Center of the Philippines main theatre.

Also deserving acclaim are the cinemato-graphy of Charlie Peralta, the music of Vince de Jesus and Jobin Ballesteros, and the production design by Martin Masadao, Regie Regalado, Dante Garcia, and Endi Balbuena.

We pray a big film company will get distribution rights for this movie. Given the right push, we have no doubt this will be a big hit with the general public who will surely appreciate its merits as a superior local film.

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Cinemalaya 2007 at the UP Film Institute

Tuesday, July 31
5 pm | PISAY by Aureus Solito
7 pm | TUKSO by Dennis Marasigan

Wednesday, August 1
5 pm | STILL LIFE by Katrina Flores
7 pm | KADIN (the Goat) by Adolfo Alix, Jr.

Thursday, August 2
5 pm | ENDO by Jade Castro
7 pm | LIGAW LIHAM by Emilio “Jay” Abello

Friday, August 3
5 pm | TRIBU by Jim Libiran
7 pm | SINUNGALING NA BUWAN by Ed Lejano

Saturday, August 4
5 pm | GULONG by Romualdo Fajardo
7 pm | BEST PICTURE WINNER REPEAT SCREENING

tickets available at the Cine Adarna Box Office @ P70 each
for inquiries, contact 09274520710